Publisher's Summary

Housekeeper Mark Sintorella (Sinders) works diligently at a resort hotel while designing clothes anonymously, hoping to get into fashion school. Then his carefully planned life is upended with the arrival of Ashton Armitage, son of the fifth richest man in America - and the most beautiful guy Mark has ever seen. Ash must find a wife or he'll lose his grandfather's inheritance, and he settles on Bitsy Fanderel. But secretly Ash is gay, and the guy who cleans the fireplaces sets his heart ablaze.

Further stirring the pot is the little elf of a man, Carstairs Pennymaker, who has Mark wearing his own designs and masquerading as a girl to impress the fashion investors in the hotel. When the clock strikes 12, two beautiful princesses line up for the wedding - but one isn't a woman. Will the slipper fit? Only Mr. Pennymaker knows for sure.

Mark “Sinders” Sinterello is a housekeeper who dreams of being a fashion designer. Ashton Armitage is a closeted millionaire in search of a bride in order to satisfy the terms of his grandfather’s will. The will states Ash must marry prior to his twenty-fifth birthday in order to receive his $500+ million inheritance or it all goes to charity. Ash has procrastinated because he’s gay and doesn’t want to marry a woman and he literally only has weeks before his birthday to meet and marry someone.<br/><br/>Enter Carstairs Pennymaker, a tiny elf of a man, who acts as a sort of Fairy Godfather and takes Sinders under his wing, and works diligently to steer the two men together.<br/><br/>This is definitely a “fairy tale” and it requires almost complete suspension of all disbelief. I’ll be honest and say, for me, it was alright, especially the narration by Kale Williams, but the story didn’t really thrill me. <br/><br/>Bottom line: The pacing is good, the narration better, it has some nice sexy times, and a hard won HEA.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Morgan A Skye

13/06/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Nice narration and an interesting spin on the tale"

This is book one in Tara Lain’s “rebooted fairy tales” series. As the name suggests, it’s a take on Cinderella in that Mark Sintorella is a dress designer working at a resort where he does a bit of everything – including cleaning fireplaces. He meets his “fairy godmother” in the form of the eccentric and rich Mr. Pennymaker who helps him find his place in the fashion industry and gives him nudges in his romantic life as well.

Our “Prince Charming” is Ashford Armitage who must be married to gain his inheritance. He’s a closeted gay man so he’s willing to find a marriage of convenience. Ash meets Bitsy (Tara’s version of a step-sister) and the two strike a bargain. But in the meantime, Ash and Mark find one another and Ash can’t get Mark out of his mind.

Will Ash be willing to give it all up for love? Will Mark have the nerve to ask for what he really wants in life? Mr. Pennymaker is there to help these confused boys make the right decisions!

**

I am a big Tara Lain fan and I love the “Cinderella” trope but I’m not a big fan of re-working the specific storyline – so I hadn’t picked this up til it came out in audio. I was interested in the new-to-me narrator and I knew it would be an interesting story and well done since Tara wrote it.

Well, it’s a bit… different. I really enjoyed it far more than I thought I would – the twists and turns are fascinating and unexpected (though predictable once you’re in the story). I didn’t always care for the way the characters thoughts were conveyed – that method – one word sentences – really worked for me with the Harker Pack series because we were dealing with shifters and a more animalistic mentality – but here it felt a bit … off. Maybe it was harder because I was listening instead of reading… I’m not sure.

I really loved the secondary characters – Bitsy and Ronnie, Mr. Ashford and Mr. Pennymaker especially were really fun and a nice bonus.

I didn’t feel the connection between Mark and Ash was very strong – it seemed they had one or two moments together then suddenly – POW – HEA – but I know – fairy tale and all that – I just didn’t feel as connected to them as I usually do in a Tara Lain story.

In any case, it was fun and much more than I was expecting. I loved the unique spin she put on the old story and found myself really entertained.

Story 3.75 of 5 stars(The new cover is MUCH better than the first edition!)

Audio

Like I said Kale Williams is a new narrator to me and he did a great job with this. He gives everyone a unique voice but doesn’t go over the top with strange affectations or anything that distracts from the story. I enjoyed his interpretation and thought it was a great way to experience this unique fairy tale.

Narration 4.5 of 5 stars

Overall 4 of 5 stars

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Riva

Chicago, IL, United States

21/04/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Cute fairy tale, great narration"

This is a modern take on a gay Cinderella story, literally. Overall I enjoyed this, but I think the author tried a little to hard to stick to the story. I really didn't think some elements of the story were necessary, namely the "drag" aspect. But for the die hard romantic, it doesn't disappoint. Since it is a fairy tale, you truly do have to suspend belief to enjoy. The narrator does a great job.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Christopher

30/07/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"A Delightful time!"

I love Kale Williams' performance. A great adaptation of a classic fairytale! Classic Tara Lain characters.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

John B. Watt Exp

Vancouver, B.C., Canada

26/06/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"It might be corny and predictable, BUT.."

The title gives it all away. It is a brilliant rewrite of the original story. Fun, emotional, and predictable, and none of that does anything but add more, to a most loveable tale. I could not put it down. My face hurt from smiling, my eyes burned from tears, my heart hurt with nerves and joy. Kale did an awesome job telling the story, all of the parts played perfectly. Tara wrote a great story, and Kale makes it special.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

9/06/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"Cinderella's story re-written"

If you like fairytales this is the perfect book for you. Beautifully written, with humour and including all the important parts of the original story ingeniously modified so will fit the modern LGBT story. You will love the complex but sweet characters.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

fantus

philadelphia

24/02/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"Lost myself in a fairytale!!!"

I loved this story. everything was over the top. The story was so too good to be true. This is what makes a good fairytale. The narrator was so into it and he got me going, if you know what I mean!!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Charity Staton

5/02/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"Really cute! 😅"

Ronni and Ash's dad sound like Inspector Gadget! 😅 Otherwise, I loved it! 😸 Sinders and Ash is really adorable! Kinda cheesy but in a good way, I really enjoyed listening.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Tams (TTC Books and more)

JUSTIN, TX, United States

11/01/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"Definitely not the classic Cinderella story"

What made the experience of listening to Sinders and Ash the most enjoyable?

Mark and Ash's resolve to not only be true to themselves regardless, but to love each other without regret.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Mark. I loved the way he was written with this hard exterior shell, but vulnerable, beautiful and unique underneath. The only person to ever crack the surface is Ash, and Pennymaker just a smidge, in a father figure sort of way.

What does Kale Williams bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He breaths life into the characters.

If you could rename Sinders and Ash, what would you call it?

Dear audible, can you remove this question from any further reviews I do please. I don't understand it, I don't understand why you'd want to change an Author's title.

Any additional comments?

Definitely not your classic Cinderella story. Lain adds her own twist to the tale that gives the story an extra edge. So you have Mark/Sinder (Cinderella) who works as a Housekeeper as well as a rent boy of sorts behind the scenes. Ash/Prince Charming keeps his sexuality a secret, only being true to himself behind closed doors. He's a show pony, preparing to marry a woman he doesn't even really know, much less love, to gain his inheritance. Everything change for both men when their paths cross. Finally, true love gives them both the strength to be who they are, and damn the consequences. <br/><br/>It's always refreshing when an Author can take a classic story and make it their own, which is definitely what happened here. There were a few times the story didn't flow well from one chapter to the next and a few secondary characters I'd rather have shot than listen to, but overall, I really enjoyed this book. Narration was rather nice, lots of tones and differential voices brought to life by Williams. A couple of times during a conversation with multiple characters he didn't transition well from one to the next, to the next and it pulled me out of the story simply because I was confused exactly who was speaking. Overall, he too did a great job though.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

Surprise, AZ

30/03/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Cinder fellow"

I loved that it was so much like Cinderella with a twist this book was a lot of fun listening to.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Report Inappropriate Content

If you find this review inappropriate and think it should be removed from our site, let us know. This report will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.